KINGSTON, Jamaica - On a day when the Jamaica Racing Commission (JRC) recognised its honorees with another staging of the featured Thoroughbred Racing Hall Of Fame Trophy, a search of the jockeys’ quarters and personnel delayed the start of the ninth event by 35 minutes. The reinsmen, for the second time this year, responded by expressing their objection to what was considered to be an invasion of their professional space with a temporary withdrawal of service.
Although this action is sanctioned by the JRC’s Racing Rules there was no support by the punters, who were left mystified by the unexplained delay, and one imagines the affected owners and trainers would be of a similar mindset which, in the circumstances, is entirely understandable. Random searches prior to these two this year were conducted only at the gates when the starter chose to exercise this prerogative. The jockeys claim that they are being singled out by the JRC, but Chairman of the commission, Clovis Metcalfe says that is not so.
“The JRC based on reports we have had, has carried out searches on others apart from jockeys including gate attendants. A number of stables have been searched and we have found devices and other material which can influence how a horse performs on raceday.
”We at the JRC are committed to making local horse racing as clean and fair as possible and as such we seen these searches as being part of that process,“ Metcalfe said.
It was also a day on which the winners of the SVREL Quarterly Championships were presented with the stipulated cash incentives in the various categories. It’s congratulations to those who won but most of these prizes went, predictably, to perennial top ten operatives with hugely substantial commission earnings already.
These and prior results suggest the top performers started with a decisive competitive advantage. New and different criteria need to be established so that more horsemen can be presented with realistic opportunities for success. In the operative claiming system, the size of any stable is not guaranteed to ensure equality in competitiveness.
The 1200-metre ninth and feature event was won by the Ian Parsard-trained five-year-old gelding Father Patrick, ridden by apprentice Jordan Barrett. The competiveness of the sprint was effectively over when approaching the distance as the son of Nuclear Wayne out of the imported mare Late Appeal shot clear and scored by nearly five lengths. Parsard’s withdrawal of his top-weighted sprinter Mahogany, obviously perfectly allowable, rendered the weights depressed, which was decidedly advantageous to the first three to finish.
In the opening 1000-metre round event, even money favourite Princess Statistic (Andre Powell) led and was always clear to be three lengths ahead of her nearest rival for trainer Ian Alexander’s second success of the season from 27 starts.
Starting at odds of 2/1, Storm Princess – conditioned by Nicholas Smith for his first of two wins – won the 1200-metre second by nearly four lengths for 2020 joint champion and current leader Anthony Thomas’s 64th winning mount of the season.
A ten and a quarter length runaway was delivered by the Joseph Durrant-conditioned Lightning McQueen (Dane Nelson) in the 1100-metre third race, clearing the way for the leading female rider to control the succeeding hour.
Samantha Fletcher kept front- runner Jamai Raja always clear of rivals for trainer Nicholas Smith’s second success on the card in the 1500-metre fourth event.
Half an hour later, Miss Fletcher induced the Donovan Russell-conditioned El Gringo, at odds of 23/1, to escape 12 rivals by a three-part-length margin in the 1000-metre straight fifth to secure her best day ever in the saddle.
The 1000-metre sixth event went to the Gary Griffiths-owned and -trained Smarty Tradition at odds of 17/1, enabling former two-time champion Shane Ellis to emulate Samantha’s feat as True Al Sky won the 1820-metre seventh by four lengths for trainer Alford Brown.
Attractive three-year-old grey filly Artesia (Dick Cardenas), trained by Richard Azan, ended her run of five placed finishes from her six previous appearances with a four-length maiden triumph in the 1200-metre eighth, while Regal and Royal (Tevin Foster) thoroughly outstayed rivals by six lengths to win the tenth and closing 2000-metre gallop for trainer Gary Griffiths in a race limited to three-year-old non winners of two races.
The Training Feat Award is presented to Gary Griffiths for the performance of Regal And Royal, who chased the two front-runners for over 900 metres in the 2000 Guineas then weakened to be 10 lengths in sixth, followed by a 38-length defeat over 1820 metres and then a five-length second-place finish over 1200 metres – none of which suggested depths of stamina. Regal And Royal displayed the Best Winning Gallop and the Jockeyship Award goes to Tevin Foster, who seemingly has a chance to be retained by Griffiths if the colt takes a shot at the Jamaica Derby.
